Part Three Chapters 17-21 Summary

In chapter seventeen, Walter Curnow puts on his spacesuit to board Discovery. He is responsible for trying to salvage the ship and bring it out of Io's orbit. Max Brailovsky accompanies him, and Curnow admits to being terrified once out in open space. They eject from Leonov in their spacesuits, with Curnow attached to Brailovsky, and manage to reach Discovery, then head towards its control and life-support module. They reach the airlock and Curnow has to manually open the hatch.

In chapter eighteen, Curnow is relieved to be inside Discovery at last. His first order business is to stop the ship's spin. Brailovsky, on the other hand, has grown nervous in the derelict craft. Max tests the air, which is one-hundred-five degrees below zero, by opening his visor. He smells something rotten and immediately shuts his visor...